tinuance. He soon recovered himself, and at the age of twenty-one years, married Elizabeth* daughter of Sir James Bouchier, of Essex, knight,

"You

Oliver misspent his time, and fell into vice; and though very probably his faults are heightened by the authors here quoted, yet I make no doubt but there is some foundation for the charge. For in a letter to Mrs. St. John, his cousin, dated Ely, 18th Oct. 1639, he has the following expressions. know what my manner of life hath been. O, I lived in, and loved darkness, and hated the light; I was a chief, the chief of sinners. This is true, I hated godliness, yet God had mercy on me." Which words undoubtedly imply some personal vice or other to which he had been addicted, though we cannot, at this distance, well tell what it was with certainty.

He married Elizabeth Bouchier-who shewed due submission to him.] The Bouchiers were ancient as a family; from hence probably arose the spirit and pride of Mrs. Cromwell. Whether these led her into any indecencies with respect to her neighbours, appears not even from the foes of the family. With regard to her husband she had merit, i. e. she was affectionate, obedient, submissive, and desirous to please: qualities vastly beyond any which result from birth, beauty, parts or wealth. What led me to consider her in this light, is the following letter to Oliver, which will be read I dare say with pleasure, especially as it is the only one of hers which has been handed down to posterity.

MY DEARIST,

Desember the 27th, 1650.

"I wonder you should blame me for writing nowe oftnir, when I have sent thre for one: I canenot but thenk they ar miscarid. Truly if I knog my one hart I should ase soune neglect myself ase to the least thought towards you, hoe in douing of it I must doe it to myself; but when I doe writ,

Thurloe's State Papers, vol. I. p. 1. fol. Lond. 1742.

said to be a woman of spirit and parts, and not wanting in pride', though she shewed all due submission to her husband. Soon after his marriage he settled at Huntington, his native country; but upon the death of his uncle, Sir Robert Stewart, who left him an estate of be

my dear, I seldome have any satisfactore anser, wich makse me thenk my writing is slited, as well it mae; but I cannot but thenk your love covene my weknisis and infirmetis. I should rejoys to hear your desire in seeing me, but I desire to submit to the providens of God, howping the Lord, houe hath seperated us, and heth oftune brought us together agane, wil in heis good time breng us agane, to the prase of heis name. Truly my lif is but half a lif in your abseinse, deid not the Lord make it up in heimself, which I must acknoleg to the prase of heis grace. I would you would thenk to writ sometims to your deare frend me Lord Chef Justes, of hom I have oftune put you in mind: and truly, my deare, if you would thenk of what I put you in mind of sume, it might be of as much purpos ase others, writting sumetims a letter to the Presedent, and sometims to the Speiker. Indeid, my deare, you cannot thenk the rong you doe yourself in the whant of a letter, though it wer but seldome. I pray think of, and soe rest yours in all faithfulnise,

"ELIZ. CROMWELL"."

In conformity to the representations of others I have mentioned Mrs. Cromwell's spirit and pride: how the latter appeared I know not. It is not said that she loved state and magnificence, that she was delighted with flattery, or fond power. Nor do I remember to have seen any addresses made to her either by the court divines, or poets of her age, though her husband, and her son Richard had store of them.

of

a See Heath's Flagellum, p. 4

p. 40. fol. Lond. 1743.

Milton's State Papers, by Nickolls,

tween four and five hundred pounds a year, he removed to the Isle of Ely. Here again it is said that he fell into great straits and difficulties, through an excess of superstition; though the accounts given of it' are, in my opinion, far enough from being probable.

So that I should rather conclude her meek and humble, than proud and high-spirited; though we have no facts given us from whence we may draw the one or the other conclusion. What confirms me in the opinion of her real good character is, that Dugdale and Bates, who have drawn the most ugly pictures of Cromwell, have left hers untouched, which I am persuaded they would not have done, could they have found any thing to fasten on. Bates, being physician to the family, must have had opportunities sufficient for information; and after the Restoration it was making court to abuse any part of Oliver's family.

I am confirmed in my opinion of Mrs. Cromwell, by the following passage in Ludlow, which I observed not till I had written the above. "He [the Protector] removed from the Cock-pit, which house the parliament had assign'd him, tô take possession of Whitehall, which he assign'd to himself. His wife seem'd at first unwilling to remove thither, tho* afterwards she became better satisfied with her grandeur "."

"He fell into straits and difficulties through an excess of superstition.] Let us hear what is said on this head by writers prejudiced against his memory. "Adolescens cum foemina nobili confarreayit; sed brevi postea tum sua tum materna bona, (pater enim ante defunctus erat) effusus in luxum, funditus dilapidavit, adeo ut ad restim propemodum redigeretur. Dein agens resipiscentiam, concionibus sacris, lectionibus piis, & mortificationis operibus totus vacat; conductoque zythepsario, velut rem familiarem quam antè decoxerat recocturus, eidem dat operam, simul et agriculturæ. Ludlow's Memoirs, vol. II. p. 488.

a

Certain it is, he was very regular at this time

Ab eo tempore, avunculo illum summopere peroso, Roberto Stewardo equiti, regiorum quorundam & clericorum operâ conciliatus est, hæresque tandem scriptus. Patrimonio tamen paulò pòst ad assem pessundato, statuit Novam Angliam proficisci, omniaque in hunc finem preparat." i. e. "In his youth he married a gentlewoman, but by his profuse and luxurious way of living, in a short time he squandered away both his mother's and his wife's estate, so that he was almost reduced to beggary. Afterwards, assuming the behaviour of a penitent, he gave himself wholly up to the hearing of sermons, reading of godly books, and works of mortification; and having got a brewhouse, he applied himself to the brewing trade, and also to husbandry. After that his uncle Sir Robert Stewart, who had an aversion to him, being reconciled by the means of some clergymen and courtiers, left him his fortune. But shortly after, having again run out of all, he resolved to go to New England, and prepares all things for that end."

Dugdale, after having spoken of "his most formally canting in their [the Puritans] demure language and affected tone, and frequenting the sermons of the fiercest Beautefeaus," tells us "he was necessitated through his low condition to quit a country farm, which he held at St. Ives, and betake himself to mean lodgings in Cambridge." This necessity another writer lays upon his overmuch religion, which induced him to have long prayers with his family in a morning, and again in the afternoon, at which his plowmen and all his country servants always attended. Mr. Hume, after his manner, has improved upon all these writers. "All of a sudden, the spirit of reformation seized him; he married, affected a grave and composed behaviour, entered into all the zeal and rigour of the puritanical party, and offered to restore to every one whatever sums he had formerly gained

• Elenchi Motuum nuperorum in Anglia ab Georgio Bateo, pars secunda, p. 219. 8vo. Lond. 1663. Dugdale's Short View, p. 460.

b

in his whole behaviour, publicly addicted to no

by gaming. The same vehemence of temper which had transported him into the extreams of pleasure, now distinguished his religious habits. His house was the resort of all the zealous clergy of the party; and his hospitality as well as his liberalities to the silenced and deprived ministers, proved as chargeable as his former debaucheries. Tho' he had acquired a tolerable fortune by a maternal uncle, he found his affairs so injured by his expences, that he was obliged to take a farm at St. Ives, and apply himself, for some years, to agriculture, as a profession. But this expedient served rather to involve him in further debts and difficulties. The long prayers which he said to his family in the morning and again in the afternoon, consumed his own time and that of his ploughmen; and he reserved no leisure for the care of his temporal affairs." There is a deal of confusion in all these accounts, and I believe at the bottom, but little truth. For who can think that Oliver, though certainly an enthusiast, had so little sense as to run himself out after such a ridiculous manner? No man better knew than himself that there was a season for every thing, and though he loved to pray, and preach too on occasion, yet he was never known in any other part of life to neglect his affairs. Mr. Hume should have known too, that the clergy with whom Cromwell associated, were not of a temper to ruin even the most hospitable: good cheer was far enough from being their chief object. But waving all this, I would be glad to know how these accounts of his poverty are to be reconciled with the known facts of his being elected a member of parliament in 1628; and the successful opposition he actually made to the earl of Bedford, and other great men, in the business of draining the Fens?

Sir Philip Warwick, an eminent royalist, lived some time near Huntington', and conversed with Dr. Simcott,

* Hume's History of Great Britain, vol. II. p. 45. 4to. Lond. 1757. moirs, p. 249.

b Me